Tendrils of Smoke
by BurnMyMind
Summary: Stepping out from the shadows of her brothers was impossible, but she was determined to make a change in their dark world. Not allowing that darkness to consume herself would be the most difficult obstacle to overcome.
1. Chapter 1

Growing up in the Era of Warring States, one became used to heartbreak and hardship. There was no one untouched by the conflict. Death of a loved one was a common experience. Strife and suffering were everywhere, as evident by all the blood-red stares around the stronghold.

Her own included.

"Akiko!" Pausing in her movements, she turned to see who called her name, smiling when she saw her friend.

"Hey, Emi!" she greeted cheerfully, relaxing her stance.

She was met with a disapproving stare. "You should really stop that, you know," Emi said with all the air of wisdom a nine year old could possess. "Training and fighting are for _boys_."

Rolling her eyes at that bit of knowledge that was continuously dispensed upon her, even by her _own_ sensei, she tactfully changed the subject. "What did you come out here for?"

"Oh!" A pleased, teasing grin stretched across Emi's face. "Guess who's looking for you?" she sang.

"I don't know." A shrug. "One of my brothers? Probably Madara," she guessed absently.

Emi scoffed, "No, silly. Masaru!"

Not exactly happy with this information, Akiko's mouth formed a soundless, "Oh." Masaru was _always_ trying to find her. His mother had been friends with hers. They had spent a good majority of their childhood together, but then Akiko's mother had passed away, and Masaru had begun the training that all boys were required to do. However, that didn't stop him from seeking her out whenever he could.

Grabbing her hand, Emi was prepared to drag her to him. Laughing at her friend's enthusiasm, Akiko shook off her hold. "I still need to finish my exercises. Maybe when I'm done," she reluctantly added that last part to appease the other girl.

Flipping her straight, ebony hair, Emi sighed dramatically. "I'll never understand you. Don't you want to be a _proper_ Uchiha woman?"

If it meant having to be bossed around by men her whole life? "No way," she answered definitively, crinkling her nose.

The thought of being a _proper_ Uchiha wife was somewhat frightening to her. She knew she was strange. Most girls her age were dreaming about their future husbands and their lives as caretakers and mothers.

But Akiko just couldn't imagine any of that. She wanted to be strong; she wanted to be there for her brothers and protect them.

She had already horribly failed both her younger borther and their mother.

Thoughts of their loss constantly plagued her, if only she had been stronger, faster, _better. _They might still be alive. Kaito had only been five when he died. Despite the fact that she was the older sibling, he had placed himself in the role of her protector, and had gotten himself killed.

Right in front of her.

And now, Izuna and Madara were the only ones she had left. Akiko could feel them pulling away.

Boys were trained from very early on to prepare for battle. It was rigorous and harsh, and even though they were only children, they were still forced to go on missions and fight on the front lines. Girls were taught how to fight as well, just the basics for self-defense, however. Mostly they learned how to use their chakra to mend superficial wounds.

There were some, like her, who craved more. Her mother hadn't been happy with that. Maybe if Akiko was less of a selfish person, she would have granted her mother's wish after her death and strive to do all the things the older woman had wanted her to learn.

But she wanted to become someone powerful who could protect herself and others. She knew she had a lot of obstacles, her remaining family included.

It didn't help that she was the only one of her siblings to possess the Sharingan, something both her brothers were sore about. She had thought that possessing their bloodline limit might make them see her in a more serious light, but it seemed to make them resent her slightly instead.

Shortly after Emi left, Akiko decided to move somewhere else to finish up just in case her friend told Masaru where she was. Knowing him, he'd rush right over.

Having expected to be completely alone, she was rather close to the forest though the compound wasn't too far away, Akiko was a little shocked to see her older brother stealthily jump out of the trees.

Considering the dangerous times they were in, traveling alone was frowned upon. It _was_ basically a death wish.

"Madara!" she called out, waving to him.

He blanched noticeably as he turned around. "Akiko, what are you doing here?"

"Training," she responded casually, redoing her high pony-tail, several of the midnight strands had come loose and were tickling her face. "Where were you?"

"Training," he snapped defensively. Observing him closer, she noted some cuts and bruises on his face and arms.

Obviously he had been sparring. "With who?"

"Nobody! Just myself!"

She stared at him dubiously, "Right."

"It doesn't matter. Just…don't tell anyone."

Frowning with concern, she asked, "Are you in trouble?"

He shook his head. "No. It's nothing like that. I just…never mind. Do you promise to keep it a secret?"

"From everyone?" Including Izuna? She loved both her brothers dearly, but they had a bond that she had no part of. It might be a little petty of her, but she was happy she was the one Madara was entrusting.

"_Everyone_."

Elated that this would be a shared secret between the two of them, Akiko nodded her consent. "Okay!"

Happy with his sister's cooperation, the twelve year old smiled. "Do you still need some help with your taijustu?" Masa-sensei must have told him about her struggles in that area, but she couldn't get the appropriate amount of anger worked up.

Grinning from ear to ear, Akiko paid rapt attention to her brother, more than happy to be receiving lessons from him.

oOo

Over the next few weeks, Madara had begun to disappear more frequently, never telling anyone where he was going. Sometimes, he would let her know when he was leaving so she would cover for him, but things had been abnormally calm as of late and he hadn't been asked about often.

All that had changed one day, when their father, Uchiha Tajima, had been scouring the compound high and low for him. Apparently, there had been an ambush on a scouting squad near one of the other clan bases. As their settlement was closest to it, they had to respond to their distress call quickly. Everyone was in a panic.

Not knowing what else to do, Akiko had run to the forest to search for him before Tajima could think to look there. Concentrating hard on his chakra, she managed to find a faint trace of it. Dashing through the trees, she leapt into a large clearing that was split by a river.

"Madara!" she shouted breathlessly, coming to a sudden stop when she realized he wasn't alone.

There was another boy around his age with him. Upon seeing her, the stranger elbowed Madara's side. "And just who is this?" the odd boy questioned. "Huh, huh? Your _girlfriend_?"

"No!" Madara exclaimed indignantly. "She's my sister, you idiot!"

"Your sister! How can somebody with a mug like yours be related to someone so pretty?"

Madara raised his fist in the air. "That's my sister, don't go calling her pretty!"

The other boy fell to the ground in despair. "You're right. I'm s-sorry."

Not even batting a lash at the weird behavior, Madara addressed his sister for the first time since she got there. "What are you doing here, Akiko?"

"Um," she stuttered, a little thrown off by how Madara had been acting. She couldn't remember the last time he had been so…_carefree_. "We need to go back. _Now_." She stared at him somberly, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation without words.

He seemed to understand. "Yo! Hashirama, I'll see you later, okay?"

Hashirama stood up, his depression mysteriously vanishing just as fast as it had appeared. "Okay!" He turned to Akiko. "It was really great meeting you."

Her polite response was automatic. "It was nice to meet you, too."

As they made their way back home, she filled Madara in on the details, all the while her mind was on the eccentric boy her brother had befriended.

Unfortunately, after that Tajima had become suspicious of Madara's disappearances. Whenever asked, Akiko had tried to cover, saying he was off training, hunting, or just out for a walk.

She and her father were not close; their relationship was strained at best with neither willing to mend fences. It didn't surprise her that he had approached Izuna to spy on Madara.

It must have bothered Izuna that there was something Madara was keeping from him. Akiko surmised that was reason for his sour moods lately. While she was happy she knew Madara's secret, watching Izuna, she felt a little guilty as well.

The look in Madara's bloody gaze as they all returned from the river was one she'd never forget. After that, the closeness they had created due to their shared secret had evaporated. Madara had become more withdrawn, wholly concentrating on becoming stronger.

Over the years, being alone was something she had gradually grown used to. Her brothers and father were away for long periods of time, and even when they were home it wasn't like they were _really_ there.

It was difficult to not feel left out or hurt. Attempting to distract herself from such thoughts, she spent most of her time and attention on becoming a better kunoichi.

Shortly after turning ten, Akiko was finally allowed to go on missions. None of them had been _too_ difficult. More often than not, she was a part of an escort team, protecting some notable Lord as they traveled through the Land of Fire. But the only threats she had faced had been common thugs and not rival shinobi.

When she wasn't away on a mission, she was honing her skills, preparing herself for when an actual challenge might occur.

Her only breaks were when she allowed Emi to guilt her into taking them.

"Look at you! You are covered in dirt and sweat and _yuck_," the other girl would complain. "Go take a bath and make yourself presentable. We're _eleven_ now, Akiko, I shouldn't have to remind you to take care of yourself. Don't you have _any_ pride?"

Scowling, Akiko thought her friend was exaggerating a little too much. She always made sure to wash up after training and took good care of her hair. It was pulled back during her exercises and she brushed it every night. The long midnight tresses fell in loose, healthy curls down her back.

Being attractive almost seemed to be an inherent trait among the Uchiha. There was a certain elegance in their dramatic coloring. Unlike most of her clan, Akiko didn't have the standard onyx iris. Instead, hers were a deep, dark blue that appeared black a first. It was rare for one of their clan to fall out of the normal color scheme, and despite the fact that her facial features were maturing, she knew that she would always seem more sweet than regal, what with her large eyes and button nose.

It didn't matter, though. Even among the Uchiha she was considered uncommonly pretty. And she knew it. In spite of her young age, there was no mistaking the look the Lords and their sons gave when inquiring about her age and if she was already arranged to be married.

It wasn't exactly uncommon for a girl her age to have suitors lining up to become a potential fiancé. After all, a good portion of girls were married off by the time they were fourteen or fifteen.

"Where are we headed?" Akiko asked as she grabbed one of her nicer yukatas after her bath. It had been a while since she'd worn one, usually staying in her training outfits.

"We need to figure out what we're going to get Mayumi for her birthday."

She had forgotten that was coming up. "Kazue probably has something she would like. There are tons of necklaces and other stuff at her place."

Even though it wasn't considered a useful skill, and being a craftswoman was sort of looked down upon, Kazue had a knack for creating pretty pieces of jewelry. They weren't anything extravagant, but rather simple and elegant.

Akiko wondered if it would be too much for her to request a jewel encrusted katana…

Appropriately ooh-ing and aw-ing at everything Emi picked up, both girls ended up agreeing on buying the delicate silver-chained bracelet decorated with green gems.

"Thank you, Kazue-san!" They both bowed lightly before running off.

"I have the perfect little bag to put this in!" Emi gushed with excitement. "I just have to find it…"

Emi's room wasn't exactly the most organized. "Good luck with that," Akiko snorted.

They waved goodbye and Akiko decided that she didn't want to head home just yet. She walked along the edge of the forest, enjoying the peace and quiet. The tranquility was ruined when she came upon Masaru viciously attacking a tree.

"Now what did that poor plant ever do to you?" she teased, but immediately became somber when she saw the look in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

He ignored the question. "Spar with me."

It was more like a command than a request. Still wearing her yukata from earlier, Akiko sighed, but nodded her head.

The speed at which he came at her was somewhat shocking. Whenever they trained together he had the tendency to go easy on her, in his anger he must have forgotten that. She didn't mind. Anticipation and adrenaline pumped through her veins as she parried, reflexively dropping down and attempting to sweep his feet with a kick.

He jumped, flipping backwards before pushing towards her again. Her Sharingan flashed, reading his movements. It might be somewhat unfair for her to use it, considering his had yet to unlock it, but he had more fighting experience than her, so she supposed it made them even. She quickly leapt into a tree, avoiding his attacks, but he was quick.

Sensing his chakra behind her, Akiko dove from the branch she was perched on seconds before it was shattered. Twisting in the air, she landed facing Masaru. Being able to read his movements, she was able to block his knee and the uppercut that followed shortly after.

She managed to hit him with a right hook, but wasn't fast enough to evade the kick to her stomach.

They continued to spar until the sun was gone from the sky. Both of them were breathing heavily, laying down on the cool grass, staring at the starry night in companionable silence.

Had someone told her a few years ago she would be willingly spending time with Masaru, she would have scoffed and called them fools. But he had changed.

Surreptitiously glancing at him, she noticed his lanky form was beginning to bulk up with muscle. His face was becoming less round, jawline a little more severe. He was handsome.

Flipping onto her stomach, wincing a little from the bruises she was sure to have, she watched him curiously. "Any particular reason for your bad mood?"

"Father says Kenji needs to head to the front lines in the east." Kenji was only eight years old, but there were a lot of boys younger than him fighting on the front lines.

"I'm sorry," she said, staring at him sadly.

"I just don't understand why they send kids in the first place," Masaru growled, frustrated. "It's not like most of us are a match for the adults anyways."

Akiko nodded. "If I ever have children, I'll make sure they don't have to go."

Masaru turned over to lie on his stomach. "Yeah? Me, too."

She smiled his way, it was nice to have someone else acknowledge that there was something wrong with the way things were.

oOo

By the time she was fourteen, Akiko had begun undertaking harder tasks and missions. Currently, she was a part of a battalion fighting off a rogue group of shinobi made up of defectors from several different clans of no remarkable talent.

They weren't too difficult to handle, per se, but some were exceptionally skilled. It was a pity that defeating them wouldn't amount to much reputation wise. The only kills that mattered were if the victims had been from a clan on par with the Uchiha.

It would have been a miserable experience, but luckily she had Masaru with her as well. When they weren't battling, the two often stole away to isolated, quiet spots in the forest. Over the last few years, they had gotten closer, but now it seemed that their relationship was changing from that of mere friendship and into something more. Surprisingly, it was Akiko steering the way; a comical turn of events considering her attitude regarding him when they were younger.

Lying on the chilled ground, the breeze played with her long, raven curls, she asked nonchalantly, "How long do you think we'll be here?" Her fingers absentmindedly running through the grass.

Masaru was sitting next to her, head tilted back and staring at the twinkling sky. "I think we've pretty much destroyed this little faction, so it won't be too much longer," he predicted.

Suddenly, Akiko detected a slight chakra manifestation, like that of someone who was trying to suppress it. Before the intruder realized their cover had been blown, she shot up and rapidly threw a kunai at where she sensed the presence.

Masaru was on instant guard, eyeing the direction of where her kunai landed.

The sound of soft applause greeted them from the shadows. "Well done," a deep voice praised mockingly. It wasn't one she recognized; a swift glance at Masaru told her he didn't know who it was either.

The stranger stepped out from the cluster of trees. He was tall and tanned with dark brown hair and acidic green eyes.

Not wasting anytime both of them attacked. Akiko launched a set of shuriken at him while Masaru used _Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu, _a large ball of fire shot from his mouth toward their opponent_._ Before Akiko could even realize that their attacks had been unsuccessful, a fist had slammed into her stomach, and she was sent careening into a tree. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she quickly regained her footing only to see Masaru barely keeping up with the rain of blows the enemy shinobi was delivering onto him.

Failing to block a right hook to his face, Masaru was sent crashing to the ground. The stranger raised his katana and was prepared to pierce him, but Akiko jumped into action, kicking him from the air and knocking him back several yards. The tomoe of her Sharingan began to spin wildly as she stared at him. Frustratingly, he was avoiding looking into her eyes. If she could just get him glance into them, she could trap him in a genjutsu.

The odds of her and Masaru winning this battle weren't in their favor. They were already exhausted from having spent a great deal of chakra and effort against the rogue shinobi group they were supposed to be suppressing. There was no way they could defeat him in their current states.

Before the strange shinobi could collect himself, Akiko hurriedly did the _Katon, Karyuu Endan, _and a giant flame dragon blasted from her mouth. When her flames dissipated, he was nowhere in sight. Sensing movement behind her, Akiko quickly spun around to witness him launching himself from under the ground. He was using a jutsu that allowed him to travel in the earth.

Now that he no longer had the advantage of surprise, she was able to block his hit, and attempted to slash him with her blade. Her movements were sluggish from being in combat all day, allowing him to slice her thigh with a kunai, and land punch to her jaw.

She fell harshly to the side, her already battered body roughly hitting the ground. Panting, she looked up and saw a strange colored chakra emitting from the man's hand— the same color as his eyes, she noted distractedly—before he reached out and grabbed the top of her head.

It _burned._ It was almost as if the searing heat from his fingertips allowed them to impale her skull.

She couldn't even begin to try to quell the shriek that erupted from her. Mercifully, after the initial contact, the hand was harshly ripped away.

Disoriented from the ordeal, it became hard to concentrate on what was happening. She could hear the scuffle, and it was slowly getting further and further away from her, but she couldn't focus on which direction. Her vision was hazy, and she wondered if the purpose of that technique had been to blind her.

Masaru's shouts of pain had her stumbling to her feet. Red eyes flashed with determination as she tightened her hold on her katana and followed his screams. Her vision returning somewhat, she caught sight of them. The man was holding Masaru by his head, he was using that same awful chakra and it looked as though steam was rising from the places where his hand met Masaru's flesh.

The shinobi must not have been expecting her to shake off whatever he did to her so quickly. With the element of shock on her side for a change, she dashed over there and managed to pierce the green eyed man's side. He had moved slightly, causing the blade to slide into a less fatal area.

All that mattered was that he dropped his hand and moved away from Masaru who fell to the ground, clutching his skull. Akiko moved to stand in front of him, prepared to protect him with her life.

Pulling the katana from his side casually and dropping it, their attacker sent them a cold, dismissive look. "I've done what I came here to do," he told them ominously before disappearing into the night.

They were silent for several long moments, listening to see if he would return. When it became apparent he would not, it was Akiko who spoke first. "What the hell was that?" she demanded, breathless. "Seriously, who was _that_?"

Masaru was well aware that she wasn't expecting an answer from him—he was just as clueless as well. He was too busy trying to blink his sight back into place to respond anyways. His head was feeling funny. It almost felt _full_.

"We should get back and alert the others," he said, shakily standing up.

"Where were the others anyways?" she scowled. "How did they not sense _any_ of that at all?"

"There might have been another attack," Masaru guessed.

The small kunoichi released a heavy sigh as she took a step forward, only to drop to the ground grabbing her injured thigh. "Ow! I forgot about this!" she hissed, using her hands to cover the seeping wound.

She didn't have enough chakra to fix it, and neither did Masaru. It didn't appear to be fatal, so she would just have to deal.

Leaning on him, they slowly made their way back to camp. From the looks of dead bodies and injured soldiers littering the grounds, it would seem that Masaru had been correct.

"My head hurts," she complained, expecting him to join her.

To her astonishment, his face lit with realization when he told her, "Mine doesn't. Not really."

How was that even possible? She'd only had that strange chakra touch her for not even a full second. Who knows how long Masaru had been exposed to it.

The sounds of a battle weren't too far from them, leaving Akiko confused. The rogue shinobi had never made it this close to camp before.

Gradually, they managed to get to a vantage point out of harm's way to see what was happening. Dark blue eyes widened when she saw several bodies of her clansmen littering the ground before they narrowed slightly.

"Of course," Akiko said, glaring accusingly at the battleground. "Of course, the band of misfit shinobi would chose _now_ of all times to attack."

"It looks their numbers are dwindling swiftly," Masaru observed. He grabbed a kunai from his thigh holster and twirled it. "Let's try to hurry this along."

The small kunoichi followed suit. "Duh," she said insouciantly, already searching for a target to take out.

Despite their exhaustion, both managed to hit a fair amount of the enemy. Akiko had been focused wholeheartedly on the task. So much so, that she hadn't realized just how lightheaded she had been feeling.

Glancing down at her wound, she noticed that it hadn't slowed as much as it should have. Granted, it wasn't gushing like it had been, but there was still a good amount of blood pouring out. Due to the blood loss and exhaustion, Akiko could feel her body start to shut down. It was strange, she'd always thought that fainting or passing out just happened in an instant. One second you're awake and the next you're not, but she was slowly losing consciousness.

She sunk to the ground leaning against Masaru as she lost the strength to keep her eyes open.

* * *

So I hope everyone liked it. Let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

"Ugh! Akiko!" The exasperated cry caused said girl to stop moving guiltily. "You should be in bed resting," Emi lectured sternly, almost maternally, gesturing to the barely healed gnash on her leg.

With a sigh, Akiko agreed, "I know, I know. But it's just _so_ boring, and my leg is feeling much better." It wasn't but that was beside the point.

Not to mention, she was ridiculously eager to see Masaru. The first time she had woken up and had inquired about him, she had been told that he was being isolated for treatment. Confused and disoriented, Akiko had been terrified that his life was in jeopardy and had nearly crawled to his room in her own pathetic and injured state. Luckily, Emi and Hiromi had caught her before she could get very far, and had stopped her from making a complete ass of herself.

Akiko winced, imagining Madara or Izuna being the ones to happen upon her in that hysterical, if slightly delirious, state.

Madara would probably have stared, incredulous, before sneering at her foolishness. Izuna would have laughed himself into a coma.

Emi was wagging her finger. "You need to wait until Hiromi-san says you're all better."

"Come on, Emi!" Akiko cried, pouting a little. "You're supposed to be my friend and help me sneak out of here."

The other girl wasn't moved. "I am being your friend by making sure you don't hurt yourself," she replied, somewhat condescendingly in Akiko's opinion. Retrieving a brush, Emi changed the topic and asked, "Do you want me to do your hair?"

Brightening instantly, a little known fact was that Akiko loved having someone play with her hair. She sat up straighter and tossed her tresses over her shoulders.

They were silent for a while. Both content and relaxed. Emi was the first to speak. "Your hair's getting long," she announced after brushing it out. She pressed into Akiko's lower back to show her where the strands ended.

"Probably not as long as Madara's," Akiko remarked with a laugh. "One day he's going to get lost under all that hair."

Emi shifted anxiously behind her, a reminder that her brother made people uneasy. His power was frightening, she supposed. Akiko could never see herself becoming afraid of him. He was intimidating, not that she would ever let him know that, but he wasn't cruel. Sure, he could be a jerk, but Izuna was a bigger one. Izuna also happened to be more sociable, so despite the fact that he was nearly as strong as Madara, people weren't as afraid of him.

Admiring Emi's handiwork in the mirror, Akiko decided she wanted to try and replicate it on her friend. The two switched positions, chatting easily about nothing of importance. Moments like these were nice, and were becoming too far and few in between.

The door to her room slid open to reveal a kunoichi who was a couple years older than Akiko, Rika. Theirs was a complicated relationship. Akiko honestly had no clue as to how Rika felt about her.

There were times when the older girl was friendly and seemed genuinely interested in Akiko. But other times, her words were cruel, cutting to the bone, and expression mean.

For a time, Akiko had wondered if Rika might be jealous that, unlike her, Akiko had chosen this life. Rika's parents had begot no sons. For some reason, perhaps because she was the oldest, Rika's father had decided to train her, treating her more as the son he never had.

While other girls her age had been taking lessons in dance, sewing, flower arrangements, etc. (the majority of which Akiko had failed miserably at) Rika had been training to be a killer.

It must have been lonely. From her own experience, Akiko knew that most men and boys weren't too keen on the women becoming kunoichi. She, at least, had created friendships with the other girls in the compound beforehand. Rika hadn't been given that opportunity.

But it was practically impossible to think of Rika as anything other than a kunoichi. Imagining her in those classes was comical. Rika was lean, muscled, and tall, hair cut short. Her facial features were sharp, almost birdlike with her piercing, dark eyes. There was _nothing_ soft about her at all. She was incredibly talented, more so than Akiko; a fact that never failed to make an appearance whenever the two spoke to one another.

"So you and your boy toy encountered some difficulties," Rika stated, making herself comfortable as she sat at the edge of the tatami mat.

Akiko scowled overdramatically before a grin split across her face. "Something like that," she answered vaguely.

After having to repeat the story a thousand times to her father, her brothers, Emi, some council members, and more, Akiko was plenty willing to let one of them fill Rika in.

Emi was still looking a little scandalized at Rika's comment, but she never corrected the older kunoichi on her mannerisms. Curious, and slightly envious of the reprieve the other girl was granted, Akiko had once asked why, and Emi said it was because Rika was a lost cause.

Waving a hand flippantly, Rika changed the subject. "How's the injury coming along?" She moved the sheet aside so Akiko's leg was in view and stared pointedly at it until Akiko adjusted her yukata to reveal the red line of raised flesh.

"It's coming."

Rika let loose a low whistle. "Good. We have an escort mission in a couple of days and I don't want you slowing me down."

Akiko said wryly, "Your concern is so touching."

"Another mission already?" Emi burst out. "She barely survived the last one!"

Smarting at the unintended insult, especially in front of Rika, Akiko glowered. "A bit of an exaggeration, Emi."

Lips twitching as she stood up, Rika directed her stare to Emi. "The world doesn't stop just because one kunoichi gets a boo-boo," she explained patronizingly. Before leaving, she nodded to Akiko. "Hurry up and get better."

Mouth pressed in a firm line, Emi stated sarcastically, "Still lovely as ever."

oOo

After declining Emi's offer to help her home, Akiko had accomplished getting there with barely any limp at all. She had changed into her training clothes, finding them to be more comfortable, and the shorts she was wearing revealed the barely sealed, angry mark that stood out vividly against the paleness of her thigh.

Izuna was lounging around the large, gated yard of the main house when she arrived. "That's going to be a nice battle scar," he said approvingly.

Akiko shook her head; she would never understand sixteen year old boys. "Oh, no. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Izuna gave an easy shrug. "Never doubted you wouldn't be." That was the best thing about Izuna, he trusted her to take care of herself. Madara, on the other hand, was not quite as happy to let her be independent.

Speaking of their older brother…"Where is Madara?"

If Izuna was here, Madara couldn't be too far.

"Somewhere around here."

She hummed noncommittally before lightly stepping up the steps to their house. "Oh! Heads up," she heard Izuna lazily call out, "Aunt Moriko is here."

Stopping dead in her tracks, Akiko turned around and joined Izuna in the yard, sitting next to him with a groan. "Why?" she whined.

"Probably trying to convince father to marry you off again," Izuna replied casually, peering from the corner of his eye to see her reaction. She did not disappoint.

Akiko flopped dramatically to the ground, covering her face with her hand as she lay there. After seeing to her own daughters' marriages, Moriko had turned her sights to Akiko. Moriko had been making these visits since Akiko had turned _twelve_.

Madara arrived a few moments later, his hair sticking out in every direction as usual. Raising an eyebrow at the sight of his siblings lying about on the grass, he made his way over to them.

Scrunching her face, Akiko despaired, "I may have to spend the night outside."

"Akiko's favorite person in the whole world stopped by for a visit," Izuna teased, filling the older brother in.

"So soon?" Madara mused, remembering the last time Moriko had dropped by.

Smiling prettily, Akiko had sweetly informed their aunt that the betrothed picked out for her better be a damned good shinobi because she wasn't above slitting his throat to garner her freedom if she were able.

Even their father had been slightly amused at that.

"It's not fair," Akiko complained. "You guys are older. Why isn't she trying to sell you to the highest bidder?"

"Our place is on the battlefield," Madara replied, crossing his arms as though daring someone to contradict him. Having a family was the last thing on his mind.

Izuna chuckled, recognizing the older brother's mistake as their sister glared, expression overcome with rage as she snapped, "Oh? And is mine at the home, existing as nothing more than a broodmare?"

Madara rolled his eyes. "You can do whatever you want. Father won't force you to marry so long as you remain useful."

Mouth dropping open, dark blue eyes widened in incredulity as she stared. Shooting to her feet with a huff, she stood on her toes to make the height difference not so vast. "_So long as I remain useful_?" she parroted in disbelief. "Shouldn't the fact that I don't want to marry _be_ the reason why I don't marry?" she heatedly questioned.

Madara looked a little confused. And the fact that he didn't even realize where he went wrong made her even angrier.

Scoffing, she decided to answer for him. "Right, it's not like my feelings or wants come into the matter. Thank you so much, Madara, for clearing that up for me! How silly of me to think otherwise." And then she delivered the greatest of all insults. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'd rather deal with Aunt Moriko than suffer your presence," she hissed impulsively before stomping away.

It was only when she was out of hearing distance that Izuna allowed himself to guffaw wholeheartedly.

"Women," Madara muttered, watching his sister stalk off. Damned if he would ever understand them.

Mentally preparing herself, Akiko quietly entered her home. Sure enough, beady eyes quickly honed in on her.

"What a mess you are!" The words were laced heavily with disapproval. Though they sounded similar, Emi offered criticisms good-naturedly, whereas Moriko just wanted to condemn her. "If your mother could see you now…"

Resolutely reminding herself that she was _not_ allowed to kill her, Akiko pasted a smile on her face. "Aunt Moriko," she greeted.

The already pinched features of the older woman's face tightened even more with displeasure as she saw the wound on Akiko's thigh. "You'll not be getting any men with those horrid scars covering your body."

Talking through her smile, which she was sure looked more akin to a baring of teeth now, Akiko ground out, "Well, it's a good thing that I don't _want_ any."

"Such a waste," her aunt cried before storming into a lecture.

During her childhood, Akiko vividly remembered the conversations her mother and aunt used to have. The majority of the time it had been about her. Keiko would often complain of how rowdy Akiko was and her unwillingness to attend her lessons while Moriko would listen with a sympathetic ear, eagerly awaiting her turn to gleefully crow about her daughters' achievements.

Whenever her mother found her listening in, she would beckon Akiko forth, cupping her daughter's small face with a mournful sigh, "My beautiful, sparkling child. What am I to do with you?"

And Aunt Moriko would incline her head in agreement. "She is pretty, at least."

Having severely underestimated her ability to endure the suffering that was Moriko, Akiko hurriedly interrupted her aunt when the older woman paused to catch her breath. "Oh! I completely forgot I have…to go get my injury checked again," she lied. "I'll see you when I get back." Not that she was coming back. Her plan was to stay at Emi's.

Without further ado, Akiko took off, forgetting entirely to make it look as though her leg was bothering her.

She could hear Izuna snickering as she approached. "Congrats. You lasted all of five minutes."

"I'd like to see either of you last longer," she dared.

Both males glanced at each other before declining. Madara shaking his head as Izuna declared, "Not a challenge I'd like to take you up on."

"Cowards," she grinned.

Neither bothered to refute her claim.

"Good luck with all that," Izuna said, stretching his arms above his head. "We're off to have a sparring session."

Though she should be used to it, Akiko still felt a little pang in her chest when they left without even considering inviting her along.

_You'd only get in our way, _she could practically hear Madara telling her disinterestedly.

Izuna would smooth things over and come up with an excuse. _You're not healed enough, yet. You should be taking it easy._

Glumly, she made her way to Emi's, the fire stoking in heart.

She _would_ be as good as them one day.

oOo

Thanks to a special ointment Hiromi had concocted, the scar on her thigh was fast disappearing. Soon it would be nothing more than a faint, white line barely discernable from the rest of her skin.

Luckily, Moriko had decided to leave after the first night, well aware that her niece would go to any length to avoid her.

Staying the night at Emi's wasn't such a chore, though. Strangely enough, Emi's mother was more of a free spirit, and she adored Akiko. It was hard to imagine Emi being raised by such a woman. Akiko speculated what it would have been like to be raised by a woman who wasn't so concerned about tradition and proper etiquette, and then felt a little ashamed for the line of thought.

Her brothers had left to go face off against the Senju, _again_. Honestly, she half-wondered if they all agreed on a location together to go fight. It was well known that the Senju brothers Hashirama and Tobirama were one of the few shinobi able to match her brothers in battle. Being able to slash their way through any enemy must get boring for both parties, so Akiko was a little curious if they planned these meetings to give each other an actual challenge.

Packing lightly for her mission, Akiko let her mind wander. There wasn't a shinobi threat, she was pretty sure. The person they were guarding was a distant family member to an esteemed member of the Fire Lord's council, so nobody terribly important.

After meeting Rika at the gates, the two swiftly headed for the town where they would be meeting their charge.

"Sure that cut didn't cause permanent damage," Rika badgered. "You seem even slower than usual."

Akiko rolled her eyes. "Shut up and run."

The mission was surprisingly easy. Akiko marveled that Rika would be even slightly okay with being given such a small, unimportant task. There were no complications, the destination was only two days away, and their client was actually tolerable.

She honestly couldn't think of a more laid-back mission to help her get back into the swing of things. Masaru was going to be _so_ jealous.

The day before she left, the two had been doing some light training together, recalling the battle that had led to their hospitalization. Oddly, he had probed, "Did you go into a lot of detail of when I fought the shinobi?"

He was trying to sound nonchalant about it, but Akiko could tell he was keenly focused on her. "Not really," she replied. And she hadn't. For some reason, she had skirted around the part where Masaru had his skull fried by the enemy. He seemed just fine. If he wanted them to know, then he would tell.

"Good," he had said, sounding relieved. "Good."

After escorting their charge, the two kunoichi had returned home. Rika had decided to become a complete shrew the last day, providing fantastic motivation for Akiko to rapidly make her way home.

"Next time, try not to be such a pathetic mess," she spat, referring to the mission where Akiko had been injured. "The last thing you need after such a profound failure is coddling," Rika had sneered when they made it back to the stronghold.

Akiko had given her the one-fingered salute. "It was nice working with you, too, Rika."

The next person to annoy her was getting stabbed with a kunai, the small kunoichi decided on her way to her house. She needed a bath.

A few hours later found her feeling refreshed and in a _much_ better mood.

Masaru was off on a scouting mission, so she decided to go give Emi a visit. When she arrived, Emi's mother answered the door, her eyes red-rimmed and face puffy. It was pretty obvious she had been crying. "Akiko, dear, I hadn't been expecting you," she sniffled.

Engulfed with an absurd awkwardness, Akiko struggled to say, "I was—I just got back a little bit ago…Is Emi here?"

Shaking her head sadly, the older woman informed her, "Emi is visiting the other compound. Her father wants her to meet a young man he met over there."

Akiko felt as though something had died within her. "Oh," she murmured. "Oh." Taking a moment to collect herself, she asked, "Do you know when she'll be back?"

_Will she be back? _Akiko was too afraid to ask.

"Within the next few days," Emi's mother said, much to Akiko's relief. "You girls are just growing up so fast." Sensing another crying session coming on and having no idea how to deal with it, Akiko bade a quick farewell.

As she meandered around the stronghold, she was overwhelmed with sadness, but tried to shake herself out of it. This was what Emi wanted. She wanted to be a wife and mother. This was her dream.

If Emi was happy with whomever her father was attempting to set her up with then Akiko would support her a hundred percent. If Emi wasn't pleased with the choice…well...

…that man had better be a damned good shinobi.

* * *

If you didn't understand the last line, I would encourage you to read the chapter again, a little more closely this time.

And there is chapter 2! I apologize for any grammar mistakes. Hope everyone liked it!


	3. Chapter 3

"You're getting a little sloppy," Akiko teased good-naturedly after a decent spar session with Masaru. Though she was joking, there was some truth to her words.

Masaru's fighting style was fluid, even graceful, but his movements were a bit chaotic this time around. Less predictable.

So perhaps there was some merit to his choppy strikes; no pattern and no way to tell what he was going to do next.

Masaru snorted. "Not sloppy enough that you had a snowball's chance in hell of winning."

Uh, too bad she _had_ won.

Walking over to his spot next to the quietly trickling stream, she told him as much.

The two sat together, bantering playfully. Akiko began scooting closer to the shinobi, dark blue eyes tracing the contours of his handsome face in a distracted manner. She noticed his eyes perusing her in a similar manner, although his gaze seemed much more heated.

His behavior had been a little off lately.

While she had known Masaru possessed some interest in her, it was strange that he was being more open about it. Usually, it was her leading them into soft, teasing discussions and flirty, innocent brushes of their bodies. Having him act this way was throwing her off a bit, and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

Emi had accused her of being a control freak when Akiko had brought the topic up. Wanting to guffaw at the fact that _Emi_ had called her a control freak, she had wisely bit her tongue. Since meeting with her fiancé a few months ago, Emi had gained some envious knowledge. Not one to delve into detail on such personal matters, Akiko had somehow persuaded the other girl to recount a few stolen kisses and intimate caresses.

It was a little funny that Emi was boldly entering this new territory while Akiko was on the more hesitant side.

Determined, Akiko inched closer to Masaru, catching his eye and he turned to face her. Curiosity outweighing her tentativeness, she closed the distance between them, softly pressing her lips against his. It only lasted a few seconds, Akiko pulling away with a thoughtful hum. A bit of the old Masaru came into play as he was very obviously staring at anything _but_ her.

"That was nice," she said decidedly. When it looked as though he was going to lean in for a second round, Akiko stopped him by placing her hand over his face, and then ruffled his hair. "Not that nice," she said wryly, but pressed herself against his side, feeling entirely content and very pleased with herself. He lifted an arm around her and they sat in silence, each grinning like an idiot.

Emi was right. She _was_ a control freak.

oOo

A few days later, Akiko was happily skipping to the gates of the compound. She turned around to see the rest of her squad following behind her in a much less enthused manner.

Today was the first day in _months_ that she had been assigned a mission where getting some action was guaranteed.

The members of her team included Masaru, Rika, and three other shinobi she had not previously met before. Apparently, they were from one of the smaller clan bases outlining the two main strongholds. They were older, a bit rough around the edges in her opinion. Two of them looked like common street thugs.

On their journey, Rika filled her in. The two who seemed out of place, Goro and Jiro, were the sons of a widow who had married into the clan. The third man, Akira, was their younger brother, a half-blood. As far as Akiko was concerned, as long as they could fight and fight _well_, then it did not matter if they were a "true" Uchiha or not, she couldn't say that the majority of the clan was of a similar mind frame. There was a hierarchy to be followed, and most of them felt strongly about it.

Particularly Rika.

The less-than-impressed attitude she had been treating the three men with was fairly obvious, and it was also clear that Goro and Jiro took extreme exception at being looked down upon by a woman. Their sexist digs kept Akiko from feeling any sense of sympathy when Rika delivered a particularly nasty insult.

Akira didn't seem to pay any mind to the drama unfolding around him. His presence, the way he carried himself, it was much different from his brothers. He was calm, calculating, constantly taking the measure of his surroundings.

For how uncomfortable the journey had been during the day was in no way a preparation for how awkward it would be while making camp.

"He should not be securing the area," Rika protested sharply, gesturing to Goro with head. "Not when there are others much more capable. I, for one, would like to _live_ through the night."

Rika was demonstrating how unquestionably tactless she was.

"Keep talking like that, girl, and you won't be living through the next few seconds," Jiro sneered.

The short-haired kunoichi gave a sinister smile. "Go ahead and try," she purred, beckoning him forward with a finger.

Masaru handled the situation with delicacy. "Two pairs of eyes would be better than one," he interrupted. "I'll go with him."

Though this was somewhat entertaining, Akiko was becoming quickly irritated. All of this fighting within the group would surely cause trouble for when they would do actual battle with the group of shinobi they were intercepting a message from.

After a horrible strategy meeting that somehow managed to leave them with a plan, the group rested. Every few hours they would rotate who would keep watch.

The small kunoichi was unable to sleep, though. Her mind wandered to the behavior she had witnessed today.

A line had been drawn in the sand, not only among their little group, but within the entire clan as well. Those who were seen as weak or unworthy were looked down upon. The Uchiha considered themselves to be the most powerful and any who would undermine that mindset weren't tolerated.

There were whispers that these individuals were most often given suicide missions. They were considered expendable by many. After all, their world was not for the weak.

Akiko herself was unsure if such rumors were true.

But many thought they were and it was causing tensions to rise in the clan.

Sooner or later, this issue would come to a head. Akiko could only hope it wouldn't be too catastrophic.

The next morning, the battle plan ran smoothly, Rika and Akira quickly began their assault from the sides, taking out many of the enemy shinobi while Masaru and Akiko took a more stealthy approach and snuck up on them from the front and back, effectively incapacitating a good deal of them and finding the missive. Goro and Jiro took care of any stragglers who may have escaped.

All in all, the mission was a success.

It was agreed that Akira, Goro, and Jiro would deliver the scroll to their employer and the rest would head back to compound.

While the arrangement wasn't quite ideal for Akiko, she would have preferred some alone time with Masaru, she recognized that it was probably best. The two shinobi would probably _try_ to attack Rika, and then Rika _would_ kill them_._

During the mission, she and Masaru had managed to keep their minds on the task at hand, but now they were making eyes at each other and giving small, knowing smiles.

Of course, Rika had picked up on the strange behavior and had demanded to know what was going on.

Akiko had given her an _aren't you adorable? _smile and responded, "One day you'll understand, Rika." To which the older kunoichi appropriately gagged at. Not that younger kunoichi could blame her, if she had to watch a couple of lovesick morons stare longingly at one another, she would have done the same.

oOo

The day after Akiko had arrived home from her mission, Emi was finally due back from the other compound. She'd been gone for two weeks this time around and Akiko was not happy about it.

Mainly because she'd had a significant life-changing event happen to her, her first kiss with Masaru, and Emi had not been around for her to tell.

Tackling the other girl in a hug, Akiko quickly dragged her away for some "girl talk". After reiterating every single detail, Emi looked simultaneously outraged and ecstatic at her friend's behavior.

"So when's the wedding," she asked, nudging the slender kunoichi's side.

"Ha!" Akiko made a face. "You're funny."

This didn't change Akiko's mind marriage. She refused to be traded like some cow.

She backtracked a bit. "But it _was_ pretty nice."

Emi gave a wistful little sigh. "You and Masaru are _made_ for each other," she declared. "Why fight it?"

Akiko scoffed. "Since when do you believe in fate?"

"Why not believe in it?" Emi shrugged. "Isn't it romantic to think that you're destined to be with your one true love?"

"I like making my own decisions, thanks."

"…spoilsport."

The two sat in silence for a while, lost in their thoughts.

"Hey," Emi said, turning to look at Akiko, "Do you think that the next time I go to the other compound you could come along? I want you to meet Osamu-kun."

Akiko was pretty sure she and_ Osamu-kun _wouldn't get along.

After all, he _was_ taking her best friend away from her, but Emi was looking at her with hopeful eyes and Akiko couldn't really think of a reason to say no.

"Sure."

Masaru showed up then, and with the way Emi was staring at him and the blushing, stammering greeting she gave had no false pretenses. It was clear she knew.

Akiko wanted to facepalm at her friend's obvious behavior.

Suddenly, Emi perked up a bit and managed to pull herself together. "Hey, Masaru. Akiko was planning on coming with me for my next trip for the other compound to meet my fiancé. You should come, too," she invited a little too innocently. "It would be a lot of fun. You know, with the four of us, _together_."

Akiko could practically hear the words, _almost like a double date._

Emi was apparently planning out their entire future, it was probably something along the lines of her marrying Osamu, then Akiko and Masaru tying the knot, they'd be neighbors, have babies, and their babies would be best friends, get married, and have their own babies.

And Masaru was ignorantly going along with the scheme when he accepted Emi's proposal. "Yeah, if I don't have a mission."

He appeared very confused when Akiko sent a glare his way.

"Excellent!" Emi gushed. "You'll just love it there."

Akiko raised an eyebrow at that. She was pretty sure the other compound was pretty much the same as this one.

Except the house she would be staying at wouldn't be nearly as nice as her own.

"…the trip really isn't that bad either. There's this nice little merchant town where we can stop and shop for a while, although they seem to be having issues with kidnappings lately," Emi continued on as the other two listened with half an ear. "I haven't been told much. Father says that this isn't something for women to listen to."

Akiko snorted at that.

Masaru was nodding along. "Oh yeah, I remember hearing about this. People are being taken and then sold off."

Emi gasped. "How horrible!"

Akiko frowned. "Sold to who?"

"Prominent estates, clans, brothels," he listed. "I hear the Senju buy all of their servants this way."

How strange. So different from their own clan, which was very reluctant to let outsiders in. Those who didn't go out to battle, the civilians, did the work around the compound. Everyone had to earn their keep. If one was not out fighting for their lives, they could at least do a few chores and help out those who were.

"Those poor people," Emi shuddered. "Could you imagine? Walking along, minding your own business, and then some strange men come along and capture you."

Hoping to change the seriousness of the conversation, Akiko made a sound of disgust and narrowed dark blue eyes accusingly at Masaru. "Ugh. Men."

"We are truly horrible," he agreed dryly.

She laughed at that, knowing he was only trying to spare himself a rant that could go on for hours. While Akiko believed that a person's gender shouldn't dictate their worth, her opinion was in the minority. Men were considered superior by many, and Akiko got a kick out of disproving that notion.

After all, she was a better fighter than many of the male shinobi at the compound. Rika was incredibly talented as well, but the men who went against her and lost seemed to handle it better than when it was Akiko who beat them. It might be because Rika looked the part of the hardened female warrior. Akiko, on the other hand, seemed very much the traditional woman. Small, dainty, and soft; no matter how hard she worked out, she couldn't get that tough, muscular physique Rika sported.

This had proved vexing for her in the past, but while out on a mission once, she had been given a unique perspective from a surprising source. Her lips quirked at the memory.

A year ago, when Akiko had been thirteen, she had been escorting a Lord and his _companion_, a mistress.

She was the first Akiko had ever seen, and the small kunoichi remembered thinking that she had never seen anyone quite so beautiful. Her name was Miyuki. She possessed long, auburn hair that had the gentlest curl to it, deep, emerald eyes, and a milky complexion that practically glowed. Her expression was serene and peaceful.

The adoring smiles and delicate laughs, she was like a dream. Every movement, every gesture, was elegance and grace unto itself. The Lord had definitely been entranced, and so too had the male members of her team. It didn't matter that minutes before they had been scoffing about her, calling her a whore. Now, they were captivated by her.

Miyuki was doing something brilliant. She was giving them all what they wanted to see, and they were too blinded by their own desires to look deeper and see the reality.

An Uchiha falling for an illusion. Priceless.

During their journey, when it had just been the two of them, Miyuki had taken it upon herself to teach Akiko a thing or two about the world of men.

"Arrogant beasts, all of them," she would say pleasantly while applying her make up. "They already think they're better than us. They think we're weak, simpering fools and by showing them what they want we gain the advantage. They'll never think us capable of manipulating and outsmarting them."

Though they had only been traveling for a short while, Akiko had learned that a response wasn't necessary or expected when the stunning woman gave these talks.

"They are shallow, vapid creatures, and you, my dear, shall grow up to be a beauty. And that will be the greatest weapon you could wield against them. For what is beautiful must be good," she said with sardonic twist to her mouth. "And that will give you _countless_ opportunities."

And Akiko had watched wide-eyed as that innocent face morphed into a viper's smile.

A few months later, she would come to learn that the Lord had married Miyuki, and not too long after their marriage, a tragic accident had happened, leaving Miyuki a widow and sole recipient of his riches.

oOo

They weren't able to keep their promise to Emi. A few days later had the majority of the shinobi in the compound leave for a battle with the Senju. _Finally,_ she would have the opportunity to fight alongside her brothers.

The setup of the camp they traveled to was a lot like the one Akiko had been placed at when taking care of the rogue shniobi, only much, much bigger.

She was staying with her father and brothers in the main tent. It was _always_ busy. Generals and their second-in-commands were constantly there, going over battle stragtegies. Izuna, brilliant tactician he was, regularly attended these sessions and offered his input. While Madara, whose idea of a battle plan was overwhelming his opponent through his sheer power, only went to the informative meetings. The ones Akiko was allowed to go to.

In a surprising, but entirely welcome, turn of events, the two decided to help Akiko out with her training. Though she was appreciative, it was incredibly frustrating to know that she was giving it her all, doing her damndest to hit one of them, and it was laughably obvious they were holding back. She did have one advantage over them; she was incredibly more flexible. She could easily twist or contort herself out of their hold and range.

Sometimes, they would just have her sit back and watch as they sparred. At first glance, one would assume that Madara would be the victor, but Izuna was very skilled at manipulating him into a certain position and gaining the advantage.

"And this," Izuna announced, aiming his sword at Madara's exposed neck, "is why you need to use your head in a battle." He stepped back and gave a theatric bow.

Following his lead of poking fun at their older brother, Akiko broke out into applause.

Madara was not amused. He grabbed the sword and flung it away, glaring at Izuna, who only blinked innocently. "What?"

"If we weren't facing the Senju soon…" he trailed off threateningly.

Izuna waved an unconcerned hand. "Yeah, yeah. You'd _try_ to wipe the floor with me."

"I wouldn't _try_, I'd _succeed_."

Akiko was uncharacteristically quiet while listening to her brothers, attempting to let their silly banter relax her.

It was only a few days until they would make the first move against the Senju. One of their spies had managed to find the encampment, and as soon as all the preparations were made and all the details were covered, they would strike.

This was something she wanted. Something she had been eagerly waiting a long time for. So why, then, did she feel like someone was repeatedly punching her in the stomach whenever she thought about the battle to come?

* * *

So this chapter really didn't have that much action, sorry. It was mostly setting the stage for things to come. The next few chapters should be more interesting.

I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know! Reviews are always helpful.


	4. Chapter 4

Nervously, Akiko shuffled from foot to foot, trying to no avail to calm herself. She was feeling excited and anxious, maybe even a little afraid. She scowled, thinking she wouldn't be this conflicted if she had been allowed to partake in a battle against the Senju before. Observing those around her, there was a definite difference between those who had already fought against their foe and those who hadn't.

She sent a particularly nasty glance at Izuna, who had his hands resting against the back of his head as though he held not a care in the world. Madara had the decency to seem a bit restless, at least. His chakra swirled around in a haphazard manner full of malevolent intent. More than one person gave him an uneasy look. Not surprising. His energy was pretty bloodthirsty.

They would be moving out soon, within the hour if they were fast enough. The information relayed to them had revealed the location of the Senju encampment along with a rough estimate of how many shinobi occupied it.

Considering the confirmation that only the clan head, Batsuma, was there without his sons, she figured she'd be a whole lot calmer. That was one major worry she didn't even have to think about.

"Stick close to Izuna or me," Madara told her.

Despite herself, Akiko snorted. "Why? So when you lose control and try to kill everything in sight I can become a potential victim? No, thanks."

His eyes narrowed. "I _don't_ lose control."

At that, she and Izuna shared a dubious look before laughing.

"Anyways," the younger brother began breezily, clapping her on the shoulder, "she'll be fine. Just find one of us if something happens."

_Like what? _she wanted to ask as they walked away, but her dignity refused to allow her to seem that needy.

Donning her red armor, the kunoichi tried to mentally steel herself.

An arm landed roughly around her neck, causing her whole body to jerk. "You okay? You're looking kind of clammy," Rika observed with a mocking grin.

Embarrassed that her apprehension had been noticed, Akiko blushed, shoving the offending limb off her shoulders. "Fuck off, Rika."

"Ooh, might want to try keeping that _dirty_ mouth of yours clean. Lover boy may never want to kiss you again," Rika taunted.

Thoroughly annoyed, Akiko tried to focus on that anger instead of her nervousness.

It was time for them to move into place, they were heading out in several large groups. The sun was beginning to set, and nightfall should have completely fallen by the time they reached their destination. The sharingan would give them the advantage in the darkness.

Unfortunately for her, Rika happened to be placed in her squadron.

Luckily, Madara was not. Akiko had a sickly feeling that if he was, he wouldn't leave her side, and would try his best to ensure that anyone approaching her with malicious intentions would be killed before getting within spitting distance of her.

_What you need a babysitter now? _she could practically hear Rika belittling her.

The leader of their squad, Sadou, gave the signal for them to head out. Effortlessly, Akiko leapt from tree to tree, keeping the same easy pace the rest of her team was going. It would not serve them well to exhaust their chakra before the clash between clans even took place.

Getting into place, they sent a scout ahead to confirm that all was going according to plan. However, the scout never returned.

Sadou clenched his jaw, obviously mulling over a decision. "We move forward," he declared.

"Excellent," she heard Rika hiss. Akiko was able to see the absolute glee adorning the taller kunoichi's face. The pure excitement radiating from her was enough to get the smaller kunoichi a little eager for the battle to come as well. Strangely, the fact that everything was not going to plan was a bit exhilarating. Akiko always did her best while improvising; following a regime was a bit stifling. She preferred winging it.

The body of the scout had been shortly discovered. Apparently, he hadn't been careful enough and had found himself caught in a deadly trap. His corpse hung loosely from its pinned position against a tree.

"Fool,"Sadou muttered when he spotted it.

They heard the sound of battle before they saw it. This was definitely not where the camp was supposed to be, so either the information they had been given was wrong or the Senju had been tipped off. Akiko had a feeling it was the latter.

Without any hesitation, Rika hurriedly jumped into the fray, slicing anyone she could reach. Shaking her head at the other kunoichi's impatience, Akiko followed suit.

After tangling with the Senju for a while, she came to the rather surprising conclusion that they really weren't that special. This whole battle reminded her a lot of when she was fighting the rogue shinobi. Some were skilled, some were not, and some made horrible mistakes that cost them their lives.

Most of them had the good sense not to look into her eyes, but there were a few who made the terrible blunder. Their bodies were now littering the ground. As the battle continued, the amount of corpses started to become somewhat of an obstacle. She tripped over one, but it had actually been a bit of a blessing as the kunai aimed for her head ended up hitting air instead.

The worst thing to happen to her, possibly to date, was when a dying body bleeding out a horrific amount of blood had fallen on her, coating her in the liquid. While she wasn't squeamish by any means, her stomach still turned over _quite_ a bit as she felt the foreign gore all over her body begin to harden.

Overcoming the urge to gag, she did her best concentrate on anything other than how disgusting she currently was. And that involved stabbing anything that came her way or burning them to a crisp.

More than once she ran into Rika, the insane kunoichi nearly beheading _her_ in those few occurrences. Considering those instances were the closest she came to fearing for her life, Akiko figured she was doing pretty well.

That is, until a freaking tsunami came pouring onto the battlefield, sweeping away only the members of her clan, including her.

What sort of stupid jutsu was this? And who was the stupid person employing it?

She huffed, moving sopping wet hair away from her face. They were going to die _extra_ slow.

Quickly jumping from her place on the now muddy earth, noting that she was now sporting dirt instead of blood and couldn't decide whether that was a step up or not, she avoided the charges the enemy made toward her. The small kunoichi had been hoping they would run each other through by accident, but, regrettably, it didn't happen, leaving her to waste two perfectly good kunai by embedding them in their backs.

From her position in the air, she was able to spot the reason for the impromptu swim. The white-haired shinobi was hard to miss.

"Perfect," she grumbled, recognizing Tobirama. He wasn't supposed to be here!

In a way, she supposed she brought this on herself. This is what she got after carelessly believing the Senju to be easy opponents, she had challenged fate and fate had answered with a dazzling response.

While Akiko was confident in her abilities, she knew her limitations, too. Powerful chakra was rolling off of him waves. He was easily dispersing of any adversary in his path. He was strong, he was legendary.

She, on the other hand, was the _sister_ of legendary.

There was no way she could beat him in a fight. Well, a _fair_ fight, anyways.

This was one match she would happily avoid. The only problem was a certain moronic, suicidal kunoichi she was slightly fond of happened to be unknowingly in the path of death. Akiko was fairly sure that even if Rika was aware she was about to collide with the ridiculously skilled Senju, she would still attempt to beat him.

As it was, the taller kunoichi was distracted. Six on one tended to hold one's attention.

She blew out a long, noisy breath. "You don't even like her that much," she mumbled, trying to convince herself out of doing something stupid. "She _really_ isn't worth dying over." Pausing, she watched as Tobirama stuck his arm clean through someone's chest. "…damn it."

_You're an idiot,_ she told herself as she got into position. Here she had just acknowledged that there was no way she could beat the white-haired Senju and she was _still_ pulling this stunt. But the object of the goal wasn't to beat him, it was just to distract him and put him on a different course that wouldn't result in the annihilation of Rika.

And not get killed herself in the process, of course.

Using a scroll hidden in her armor, she brought forth three windmill shuriken with metal wire attached to them.

She flung the weapons at him, and he dodged them as planned. Manipulating the wire attached to them in midair, Akiko was able to wrap it around him and trap him. Watching him struggle a bit, she raised a delicate brow.

"Well, that was surprisingly easy," she murmured, scarlet eyes wide.

Taking a second to debate on just running away, or attempting to fight the shinobi caught in her grasp, whose prowess might have been a _wee_ bit exaggerated, she was able to sense a chakra signature closing in from behind her just as Tobirama disappeared with a _poof_.

"Careless." She heard the scoff before a katana pierced through the air and she barely managed to avoid being cut. Standing before her with no obstacles or distractions barring the path between them was Tobirama. Well, crap. This was _exactly_ what she had been trying to avoid.

Through her panic she was able to process his critique and was a little irritated. Who was he to judge? His clansmen were getting killed left and right out there!

Too busy emitting a giant flame dragon from her mouth, though, the small kunoichi couldn't really say anything.

He used a water jutsu to block her attack; he came at her fast as lightning. She could see his movements, but was too slow to react. The most she could do was launch herself to the side to evade being stabbed. She landed roughly on the ground, before she could get up, he was already there.

Akiko peered up into his face. As he had been doing throughout their battle, he was avoiding her eyes. There was no sign of victory or triumph in his expression. It was just a blank slate. Those eerie, light red irises betrayed no emotion. He was disturbingly similar to an Uchiha, she thought.

He raised his blade and Akiko vowed not to look away. She wouldn't be a coward; she would be brave in the face of death and not give him the satisfaction of seeing her acknowledge defeat.

Unflinchingly, she stared, biting her lip to keep down the scream of absolute fury and fear that she could feel building inside her chest. The only thought she could muster was, _how dare he!_

The edge of the sword was mere inches from her throat when she heard the clinging of metal and saw a figure blur in front of her.

"Pretty sure I told you to find Madara or me if there was any trouble," Izuna scolded casually as he stood in front of her

"Izuna!" Akiko exclaimed brightly, pushing to her feet. No doubt in the near future she'd want to punch herself for sounding so happy and relieved, but right now she was both of those things.

Tobirama jumped back, observing them. He was obviously taking note of their interaction.

"Get somewhere safe." Izuna never took his eyes from his white-haired opponent.

She figured that by _safe_ he meant anywhere away from Tobirama.

"Prepare to die, Senju scum!" she heard Izuna shout and rolled her eyes.

She saw the reason behind this entire catastrophe obliviously engaged in combat, giddily exchanging insults as though they were common day pleasantries.

The battle had lasted only a few days. They were long, seemingly endless, but Akiko felt all the more powerful after partaking in it.

She survived!

That alone almost revived her enough to take a victory lap around the compound when they returned. _Almost_.

There was also the little fact that she kicked major Senju ass. While they were somewhat more of a wildcard than other clans, due to all the different chakra affiliations they mastered, earth, water, fire, etc. she would still say that it wasn't as horrible as she imagined a clash with them to be.

These were the thoughts that sustained her on the journey home. There was this general attitude that everyone was just happy to be alive. Returning home was like having the cold water of reality dousing them.

Walking through the gates of the compound, their party was greeted by countless anxious faces. Mostly mothers and wives with their children gathered around them. She watched as their eyes darted desperately, searching for the faces of their loved ones. Many of them were already crying slightly, and when the last remaining survivors pulled through the gates, the silent tears had turned into full on sobs of despair or relief.

Emi was among the latter. Locking Akiko in a surprisingly strong embrace, the other girl had bawled her eyes out, declaring that Akiko was to never go to war again.

Laughing, the small kunoichi patted her on the back, giving reassurances that everything was alright. After releasing Akiko, Emi, shockingly enough, latched onto Rika. A clear indication of just how worried and upset she truly was. She _clearly_ wasn't thinking straight.

Akiko was trying to take it seriously…but the look on Rika's face was _priceless_. It was clear that she in no way had any idea on how to handle this situation. In the end, she settled for a few awkward slaps on the back. "There, there…" she muttered uneasily.

"Where's Masaru?" Akiko asked after Emi calmed down, and she seemed to return to normal. Rika had wasted no time in making her escape.

Sniffling, Emi replied, "He's still away on a mission."

_Of course._

"Wanna walk me back to my place?" Akiko yawned, arching her back and reaching her arms above her head in a stretch. "I am _beyond_ ready for a nap."

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Emi suggested, "Maybe you should take a bath first."

oOo

For the next few weeks, all was pretty quiet. There were few missions, and suddenly, Akiko had a lot more open time. It was both good and bad. While she enjoyed the break, she was growing rather restless.

More than a few times, she had snuck away to find some private moments with Masaru. It was now one of her favorite pastimes. His kisses left her feeling breathless and exhilarated. After a particularly heated make-out session, he would look at her and his gaze would be so intense and excited. She felt empowered.

But while their physical relationship continued to grow, it seemed as though he was pulling back from her emotionally. He wasn't as open or forthcoming. Akiko chalked it up to him feeling unsure of how to behave around her now. She didn't see why anything needed to change. They could continue to talk, train, and kiss.

There had been a few strange moments with him. Sometimes, he would just leave without saying a word and become angry when she would pry. And he was forever changing his mind.

When Emi had discovered she would be returning to the other compound shortly, she had insisted that the two make good on their promise to go with her. Akiko had already resigned herself, but Masaru seemed to be changing his decision about going every two minutes. She swore it was like he was developing a split personality.

The day to leave had arrived, and the small kunoichi had made the less than intelligent choice to go see the jerk.

"So you're not coming, then?" she asked with pure agitation, quickly losing patience.

Masaru didn't even bother to turn around, instead continuing to throw kunai at a tree. "Nope," he replied, aiming two more. _Thunk, thunk._

He was in one of his strange moods again, and she really didn't want to deal with him. She left, not even bothering to hide the insults she was hurling his way. She was so focused on her anger at him that it wasn't until she returned home that she belatedly realized there had been fresh blood on those kunai he had been throwing.

Where had it come from? He'd been hitting a _tree._

Shaking her head, she decided not to trouble herself worrying about him or anything even remotely concerning him.

She had more important tasks to do. Like repacking her trunk. Originally, she had been planning on taking a simple bag, but Emi had arrived last night, trunk in tow, and stuffed the thing full of extravagant kimonos lining Akiko's wardrobe, most of which had never seen the light of day before. For the sake of peace, she would keep a few of them, but add some training clothes. Pretty generous of her, if she did say so herself.

Soon enough, she found herself eyeing an incredibly ostentatious horse drawn carriage with disbelief. They expected her to ride in that? This is what the snooty nobles she was charged with protecting traveled in. She didn't want to be one of them.

Not to mention, she _despised_ being cooped up. She'd rather run.

"I have to ride that?" she inquired, hoping the answer would be negative.

"Of course!" Emi exclaimed. "How else do you plan on getting there?"

It took a moment for Akiko to realize that was a serious question.

Before she could reply, one of the servants tasked with loading Emi's many, _many_ belongings into the accompanying wagon snatched her trunk from her hands. "Hey!" she called out, but he was already gone. She wasn't an invalid. If she could carry the damn thing the entire way here, then she could surely place it in the wagon. Now it was going to be lost among all of Emi's stuff.

Really, they were only going to be gone for a week. Did the other girl have to bring along seemingly every item in her possession?

"Ah, Akiko-sama." She hated being addressed that way. "What a pleasure it is to meet you." Turning to whomever was greeting her, she recognized one of Emi's cousins who was around their age. "My name is Takehiko, I'm so happy to be escorting you on this fine day."

She took in his eager face and kind smile. What were the chances their guard was one of the very few Uchiha males who knew how to hold a conversation and express their emotions?

The downside was that he probably wasn't a very good shinobi. His puppy-dog demeanor didn't exactly scream _skilled master assassin_, and when Akiko thought of all the times Emi had made these trips, she had always imagined a hard-hearted killer being the one to guide her friend safely to her destination. Having that illusion shattered, now she was going to worry incessantly every time Emi made this journey.

"If you need anything don't hesitate to call for me, or my brother," he added, gesturing to a man a few years older than himself. "His name is Yukio."

He was very sincere. It was actually a welcome change. She thought of Masaru's awful behavior earlier that day and couldn't help but compare the two.

Taking his hand in hers, she gave soft smile, "Thank you."

He stared at her for a moment, apparently transfixed, just as she hoped. Miyuki would be so proud. Behind them, Emi cleared her throat delicately, and it startled him slightly. His cheeks reddened and he excused himself in a flustered manner.

"Do you have no shame?" Emi demanded.

Akiko maintained her utterly guileless expression. Blinking innocently, she answered, "Absolutely none."

"Clearly," Emi snorted delicately, entering the carriage. Akiko followed suit, sitting across from her best friend. "I bet you wish you wore that nice kimono I had laid out for you now, huh?" Akiko rolled her eyes as Emi continued. "Anyways, while what you have on now is fine for traveling, you'll need to change when you meet Osamu-kun. I was thinking the pale blue kimono with the clouds decorating it."

The kunoichi shrugged. "Sounds fine to me."

The conversation was pretty much one sided during the journey. Emi was prone to babbling when she was nervous. She wondered if Emi was worried about her not approving of Osamu or Osamu not approving of her.

Having your husband and best friend hate each other was an unneeded complication. Even though she was positive she wasn't going to like him, she had decided to at least _pretend_ to.

Being locked away in moving wooden box wasn't ideal for her. It was actually more akin to how she pictured her own private hell. Throw in Aunt Moriko and it would be an _exact_ replica.

After what must have been the thousandth time Emi had chastised her for fidgeting, there was the sound of the horses whinnying loudly and the carriage came to a rapid stop. Emi went flying forward, knocking into Akiko. Both girls groaned at the impact, and Akiko's temper had risen rather quickly.

She recovered faster than Emi, slamming the door open and prepared to give the idiot driving this thing a piece of her mind.

The sound of metal clashing, male shouting and laughter halted her plan.

Curiously, she peered around the carriage, noting that their entourage was engaged in what looked to be a losing battle. They were surrounded by a group of jeering men in armor. Analyzing their movements, Akiko concluded that this was nothing more than a bunch of thugs trying to throw their weight around.

This was a wonderful opportunity to stretch her legs. She almost thought of it as a personal gift to her. Almost as if the universe was making up for keeping her prisoner in that stifling carriage.

Hearing the door open, she darted over and lightly pushed Emi back inside. "Stay here, okay?"

"Why? What's happening?"

"We are currently under attack," Akiko informed her, perhaps a little too happily. "Stay here while I take care of this."

"Wait," Emi grabbed her hand, "what are you going to do?"

Sarcastically, she stated, "Oh, you know, I just thought I'd walk down there and ask if any of them would like to join us for some tea." Returning to her normal tone, she said, "I'm going to go kill them. Hello? Kunoichi here."

Emi scowled. "I'm so glad you are able to retain your humor in a situation like this."

"Relax," Akiko told her, completely unworried. "This will only take a few minutes." She smirked. _"Unless_ I decide to take my time."

"Please, don't."

"No promises," she teased, closing the door.

As predicted, the instant she revealed herself, she was the center of attention.

All the members of their party had been gathered to the middle of the crowd and had been pushed down on their knees.

"Akiko!" Takehiko called out and began to struggle.

"Isn't it our lucky day, boys!" she heard one of morons shout. If only they knew.

"…she'll sell for a fortune."

"Can I give her a ride first?"

She simply stood there, waiting for them to come to her, and they did not disappoint.

A handful of them moved closer, swiftly closing the distance between them and her.

"Come here, beauty. We don't wanna hurt ya," the closest one said, his rotting teeth were put on display by the large grin he wore.

"Oh?" she commented, tilting her head to the side in a manner she knew to be entirely unnerving as she allowed the sharingan to bleed into her eyes.

She watched as the color drained from their faces, relishing in their fear before speaking again.

"But _I_ want to hurt you."

oOo

"Well, that was disgustingly boring," Akiko complained, tying the last one to a tree. Her easy conquest had been interrupted when a group of village men had arrived and they had made it very clear that these criminals were to be taken as prisoners to undergo a trial and be held accountable for their crimes.

Sighing with displeasure and wondering what had happened to the good ole days when one merely killed lawbreakers, the small kunoichi had agreed, capturing the creeps. The only serious injury had been dealt to their pride.

The leader of the cavalry, a tall man with greying hair and steely eyes approached her. "My Lady, I was wondering if I might have a word with you."

Intrigued, she replied, "Sure."

He immediately got right to the point. "We have been having an issue lately with men like this," he waved a hand at the men now adorning the trees, "wreaking havoc on the roads, and kidnapping travelers and village folk alike. From the information we've gathered, we know that there is a secret location where they bring their prisoners and where the people in charge of the operation hide out."

Akiko was nodding along, pretty aware of the direction this was heading

"We would be much obliged if you were to accept the task of finding where this location is and ending all of this," he spoke passionately. "Our village is prepared to offer you a handsome sum for your trouble."

She thought it over. Technically, missions like these were supposed to have the stamp of approval from the elders before aide was to be given, but she was on a vacation, so this was _her_ time.

And this way, she could keep all the money.

Holding out her hand, she told him, "You have a deal."

* * *

And that's the chapter!

I did my best while editing, sorry if there are some things I missed!

Please, review and let me know what you think. Feedback is always nice to have.


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